2004 cascina ‘tavijn Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato (Piedmont) $20 Imp: Dressner. 14% abv.
Wow. This is one of the most intensely aromatic wines I’ve had in a long time. Fresh red cherry and violets are just bursting from the glass. The wine has a nice structure carrying decent tannins and acidity along with a good dose of mineral. Really really nice juice and a totally fun wine.

2002 Château Pierre-Bise Coteaux du Layon Rochefort Les Rayelles(Loire) $23/500ml. Imp: Dressner. 12.7% abv.
Papin-Chevailier. I really enjoy the rich white fruit flavors and velvety texture of this wine. It’s very sweet and while it never gets to the cloying stage I keep thinking that it could use a bit more acidity. Maybe it’s just me as the Perll tasted exceptionally sweet tonight as well. There is an wonderfully long exotic fruit finish. Overall I like it but I don’t love it, and will re-check when I’m not so sweet-sensitive.

24hrs later: Damn, I really was overly sensitive last night. This wine is quite good. The acidity is there and the flavor is even more exquisite.

Bill Buitenhuys wrote:2004 cascina ‘tavijn Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato (Piedmont) $20 Imp: Dressner. 14% abv. Wow. This is one of the most intensely aromatic wines I’ve had in a long time. Fresh red cherry and violets are just bursting from the glass. The wine has a nice structure carrying decent tannins and acidity along with a good dose of mineral. Really really nice juice and a totally fun wine.

Bill,
IMO, ruche requires ripeness. I've had a few of them from less than ripe vintages and they can get green and thin pretty fast. But like you, when I get one in a good vintage, they can be a delight. 'Nice to see Dressner has one.
Best, Jim

It's good to see positive notes on '04 Beaujolais wines. The initial impressions of a few months back were none too good. But now a lot of the wines seem to be coming around and becoming quite pretty. One more that's worth looking for is Pascal Granget's Moulin-à-Vent. Josie has called it "The best thing you've served me al month" and ordered me to buy a case.

Oh, and Bill, I will go out in the rain just to find myself a bottle of that '04 Ruché from Tavijn. The '04 Grignolino I tried a couple of weeks ago at the Real Wine Assault was truly lovely.

I didnt start drinking '04 beaujolais until a couple of weeks ago and I've been very happy with the ones that I've had.

Manuel wrote:One more that's worth looking for is Pascal Granget's Moulin-à-Vent. Josie has called it "The best thing you've served me al month" and ordered me to buy a case.

Thanks!

Manuel wrote:Oh, and Bill, I will go out in the rain just to find myself a bottle of that '04 Ruché from Tavijn. The '04 Grignolino I tried a couple of weeks ago at the Real Wine Assault was truly lovely.

That's exactly what I'm doing today. It's raining and I'm heading back to get more ruché...and now it looks like a bottle or two of the grignolino that I know is in stock as well.

Ok, thanks, good to know. It's curious, because if I compare K&L with Chambers, across a number of Dressner Loire wines, some are a few dollars cheaper in one store, while others are a few dollars cheaper in other stores.

Maybe they arrived at different times, or maybe different markets have different micro-priorities..

2004 cascina ‘tavijn Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato (Piedmont) $20 Imp: Dressner. 14% abv. Wow. This is one of the most intensely aromatic wines I’ve had in a long time. Fresh red cherry and violets are just bursting from the glass. The wine has a nice structure carrying decent tannins and acidity along with a good dose of mineral. Really really nice juice and a totally fun wine.

I tried this recently and am a fan too. For some reason the structure of the wine and the clarity of the fruit reminded me of a really good cru Beaujolais. The bottle says the wine is sulfured but I didn't notice this at all. Didn't notice any heat from the alcohol either. This is another rebuy for me. Thanks for the notes.

I have to agree about Brun's Beujolais. So much of what we see from that region here in the USA is utter schlock. Brun's Beaujolais is real wine, dammit, and will even keep for several years (if you have the willpower to keep your hands off it, which I don't).